Recognition and enforcement of judgments between China, Japan and South Korea in the new era

• Author: ZAHGN Wenliang
• Pages: 153-155

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 13 MARCH 2018 NO. 1

DOI 10.3868/s050-007-018-0010-6

ACADEMIC NEWS

RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS AMONG CHINA, JAPAN AND

SOUTH KOREA IN THE NEW ERA

Recognition and enforcement of judgments (hereinafter the “REJ”) in civil and

commercial matters among jurisdictions has become a global focal point that is full of

practical and theoretical significance. Against this broad backdrop, major world players

including Asian countries such as China, South Korea and Japan have been actively

participating in the global judgments project, aiming at promoting free movement of

judgments in parallel with free movement of goods, services, capital and labor.

Unfortunately, despite the immense volume of civil and commercial interactions, China

and Japan have been stuck in the REJ deadlock ever since China first refused to recognize

Japanese judgments in the infamous 1994 case Gomi Akira. After this misfortune, both

Chinese and Japanese courts have waged rounds of repeated refusals or revenges, forming

a vicious circle in the guise of the so-called reciprocity. The Sino-Japanese REJ stalemate

is considered to be illustrative of the most formidable blockades lying on the way to free

movement of judgments. Among China and South Korea, the REJ future is promising.

Although China refused to recognize, at least in one case, Korean judgments for lack of

reciprocity, Korean courts have nevertheless recognized Chinese courts on a reciprocity

basis. The positive move by Korean courts may well pave the way for Chinese courts to

recognize Korean judgments in the future. Ever since 2015, China has been advancing its

Belt & Road Initiative, which provides a very good platform for promoting judicial

cooperation, especially for turning a new page for REJ among China, South Korea and

Japan. We also witness the encouraging China’s recent series of movements in the field of

promoting judicial cooperation with other jurisdictions or institutions.

Considering the foregoing picture depicted, on 19 December 2017 scholars from the

three jurisdictions — China, South Korea and Japan convened in Renmin Law School,

Beijing, China, discussing the increasingly prominent topic — recognition and

enforcement of judgments among China, Japan and South Korea in the new era. The

seminar was divided into two sessions: the morning session exploring the very special

issue — the role of reciprocity in the REJ and the afternoon session investigating the

more general REJ issues among the three jurisdictions. Through the seminar, the scholars

from the three jurisdictions furthered their mutual understanding and proposed possible

solutions for the lasting REJ deadlock. And it is believed that resolution of the persisting

dilemma under the three jurisdictions’ REJ practice will have a much better academic

ground if such seminars or conferences could be regularly held.

In the morning session, there were three speakers. The first speaker Professor